A new agent pressure group is vowing to take its concerns about price undercutting by Thomas Cook and TUI Travel to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the European Union.
Kitts Travel managing director Chris Turner and Stowaway Travel director Paul Stowe are hoping to hold talks with the big two within the next eight weeks about their practice of price undercutting online.
Turner said the pair had already won the support of up to 50 independent travel agents and were hoping to recruit as many as 150. Agents will be asked to share the cost of legal fees should they arise.
If the operators won’t meet them and act on their concerns, the pair have vowed to go to the OFT, which acts on behalf of consumers and can probe breaches of competition law.
The agents also believe the EU has laws against undercutting that have not been applied in the UK because of the way they have been interpreted.
Turner added: “We get customers who are willing to pay a price but Thomas Cook then gives the holiday away by giving away all the commission and margins.
“They are diverting whatever profit they can make to their own coffers rather than putting it through us.
“It makes no sense at all as they’ll get better returns by using the agencies they’ve got deals with rather than fighting against us. It could become quite expensive if we employ counsel to advise us but if we’ve got enough agency support we can cover the cost easily.”
A spokeman for TUI Travel said: “The customer generally expects the best price to be on the web and that is our policy.
“Over the past 24 months we have paid independent agents more commission, particularly those that are delivering performance for Thomson and First Choice.The level of discount offered on our websites will vary by time of year and particularly by holiday type or destination dependent on the rate of sale.”
A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said the operator was unable to comment.